Treasure is never found out in the open. It is found in the dark. Innovation, creativity, adventure, and life are found in the sacred mess of mystery, chaos, and uncertainty. The soul needs its secrets, and it is in these where true creativity originates. It’s no secret that chaos is near certainty in just about every aspect of our lives and even more so in business. Everything from changing weather patterns to Artificial Intelligence are disrupting our every day. Mere living, and not to mention doing business, now takes a level of awareness and ability to handle ambiguity and complexity that has never been required before. Change is the only constant. The irony is this, that is only in times of chaos, in times of great upheaval, great disruption, that true change is possible. It is only in the twilight zones and the cracks, that positive change can happen. It is only during these times that true innovation happens. “Never let a disaster go to waste”, Obama’s advisor told him during his ’08 campaign, a disaster allows us to do things that couldn’t be done before.

STRATEGY

How do you know what to do next in a chaotic and uncertain world? Firing at random is expensive and a waste of precious time. Jumping onto the next trendy bandwagon can be fatal. So, how does one chart a course in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world? To move forward one often must first push back? We like the unknown, and we like to be surprised (but not too much). Innovations that succeed, pull from the past to draw people into the future. In these talks, Pierre draws inspiration from the Examen, a 500-year-old practice that has served millions of people and businesses over centuries. This intuitive process works to identify the positive patterns amidst the chaos, both in your business and in your personal life. It allows you to separate the life-giving from the life draining, giving you and your team the ability to lean into growth

PURPOSE

Only one in five people are actively engaged and happy at work, three are apathetic and the fifth is actively trying to damage the company they work for. The new workforce is demanding more than just a pay cheque – they want purpose and meaning. They want to work for a place that does meaningful work and is engaged in making the world better. Customers are demanding virtuous, responsible organisations that are not only for profit but also for good. How do we build meaning into our businesses? That is the question every leader should be asking. How do we live consciously, with purpose and create businesses in the same manner? Pierre presents universal principles and practices that can give any business and everyone who works there the triad that generates meaning and purpose: something to be, something to want, and something to do.

Pierre du Plessis is an educator at DUKE CE University and has spoken at BMW, KFC, Adcock Ingram, FNB, Nedbank, and has been featured on TEDx stages numerous times.

He leads a contemplative community of faith in the heart of Cape Town, is a published author and has received the Desmond Tutu Gerrit Brand literature prize.